bad_spacefandomcom-20200214-history
Takioro Defederate Station
'Takioro Defederate Station '''is an independently-owned space station located on the border between the Midworlds and the Outer Ring. Originally consisting of a central spire encircled by three freefloating rings, in recent times, the central spire was replaced with a loose asteroid, once a piece of nearby Danboowui's crust.'' During the Bad Space Trilogy, the station is owned and operated by its Depot-Commissioner, Velocity. It serves as a central hub and homebase for the illegal activities of pirates, smugglers and bounty hunters throughout Bad Space. It is the only planetary location that appears in all three books of the Bad Space Trilogy. Characteristics Description Takioro Defederate Station is comprised of three separate octagonal Rings, each approximately a mile in diameter. The original station's Rings orbited a central spire, used for transit between the different levels, but that has since been replaced by a hunk of red planetoid, originally part of Danboowui. The First Ring consists entirely of Docking Ports, massive airlocks where incoming spaceships can dock. The First Ring also contains refueling stations and repair depots. The Second Ring is dominated by the station's bars, drug dens and restaurants. The Third Ring is home to the station's innumerable shops, parlors, boutiques and brothels. Each Ring consists of a main thoroughfare, hedged in by business on both sides. Each thoroughfare is typically crowded with stalls and kiosks from the smaller vendors. Considering the station's limited space, real estate is very precious on Takioro, the competing merchants always squabbling for every inch of storefront. In addition to dozens of sidestreets and back alleys, the Second and Third Rings also have an understreet, where smaller and less reputable businesses can be found. Accessed by stairwell plazas at the Ring's four corners, the understreets are generally shared by the Station's engineering and works. Transit Most of Takioro's traffic is foot traffic and the Defederate Station is known for its crowds and congestion. Approximately ten thousand sentients visit the station at any given time, but that number can be greatly inflated during peak periods of the year. Driftcarts can occasionally be seen on the station streets, carrying cargo or merchandise, but most other vehicles – with one exception – are forbidden by the Depot-Commissioner, considering the crowds. Shoots Inter-Ring transit was once conducted in the central spire via a suite of elevators. When the pirates took the station over and replaced the malfunctioning spire with an asteroid, they instituted a new system. A series of decommissioned and repurposed cannons, called shoots, fire elevator tubes, filled with pedestrians, between the various Rings. When fired from a cannon, the elevator tube is magnetized to an airlock on the intended Ring and the passengers disembark. This system is notoriously unreliable and prone to error. It is not uncommon for the shoots to misfire, stranding its occupants for several hours for a retriever to be fetched and rescue them. More than once, a shoot has misfired so badly it drifted away, floating off unknown space.Hull Damage, ''Chapter Three Tagalongs The only form of public transit Takioro has to offer are the tagalongs. A corps of station waifs under the employ of the Depot-Commissioner, these children drive powered-down dash bikes around the station, modified to serve as individual passenger transport. The fare is cheap and the vast majority winds up in the Depot-Commissioner's pockets but the program also considered a vague form of public outreach, attempting to employ the scads of homeless children that plague the station. Culture Since its conquest by the pirates in 5705, Takioro Defederate Station has become a bastion for the unique and depraved culture of Bad Space. Catered exclusively to criminals, the entire station, its traditions and practices are a perfect core sample of the crooked culture that dominates the Outer Ring. Takioro is essentially lawless, governed only by the sparse edicts of the Depot-Commissioner. There are no laws against theft or murder, for example, but there are rules about property damage and body disposal. Murder, therefore, is common, weapons worn openly and employed often. Petty crime, from pickpockets to armed robbers, are also rampant, individual merchants obliged to hire mercenaries and security systems to protect their wares. Public intoxication is common, vagrants and layabouts populate every street corner and there's a popular saying on the station – "If you don't like this brawl, there's another down the block." Nonetheless, it's generally considered very prosperous. All the trade is done in cash, the criminals that patronize the station's businesses typically loaded with winnings from their previous scores. Everything and anything can be purchased here, from drugs to weapons, from explosives to alcohol, from exotic animals to prostitutes. Takioro is also known for its pervasive state of disrepair. Emblematic of Bad Space, the station is always malfunctioning, its plating exposed, its doors misfiring, its artificial gravity occasionally shorting out. At any given moment, the station could be afflicted with any dozen problems and it's the unenviable task of the office of the Depot-Commissioner to keep the lights on and the station in one piece. Overtaxed by all the damage her rowdy customers cause to her station, the Depot-Commissioner has little time for cosmetics and the station is subsequently filthy, caked in grime and filth not debilitating enough to consider cleaning. Station Waifs Takioro is choked with orphans. Whether churned out by the station's prodigious sex trade or simply abandoned here by uncaring parents, no one is entirely certain where these children come from but there are enough to form a small subculture, living in Takioro's gutters and alleyways. Known to be sneak-thieves, information brokers and tagalongs, the station waifs can help or hinder the common populace of Takioro, depending on their mood and outlook. Several characters in the Bad Space Trilogy – Two-Bit Switch, Zoot and Threesies – are all station waifs. Yarba New Year Takioro celebrates one holiday, a strange and raucous affair called Yarba New Year. Coinciding with a new year's festival thrown on the distant planet of Yarba, what once began as a toast in an ignominous bar (several saloons throughout the station each independently claim to be the originator of Yarba New Year) has since blossomed into a massive, station-wide blowout. For one weekend a year, the station goes absolutely berserk with celebration. Confetti rains from dispensers in the ceiling. The streets are crowded with tourists. Most shops, bars and brothels offer outrageous discounts. Despite sharing a date, this celebration has patently nothing to do with the actual Yarba New Year. History Founding (5690 – 5705) Starway Shipping began construction on a new space station in 5690. Located at a crux between three important trade routes, this station was intended to monopolize merchant traffic in the southern Outer Ring, with a special eye towards the Imperium's push past in the Midworlds. Named for the business magnate who oversaw its construction, Takioro Federate Station spent ten years in construction, fighting with shipping delays and union difficulties, until it was eventually completed in 5700. No sooner was it constructed, however, than the Endless Imperium, in 5703, officially abdicated the Outer Ring to its local planetary governments. For a time, all trade between the Outer Ring and the Midworlds abruptly ceased. Struggling to keep afloat, it was then, in 5705, that the pirate raids began. Arrival of Pirates (5705 - 5706) It took approximately a year of consistent raiding and plundering by the local pirates, the burgeoning criminal element of Bad Space, to utterly overwhelm the station. While Starway Shipping mounted a paltry defense, hiring mercenaries and privateers to defend their outpost, this effort would eventually bankrupt the corporation in late 5705. The following year, a coalition of a dozen corsairs eventually swept the station and conquered its few remaining defenses. During this ensuing attack, the station's central spire was heavily damaged and would, in another six years, eventually be replaced by a planetoid. In early 5706, a black flag was raised over Takioro and it officially became known as Takioro Defederate Station. Anarchy Reigns (5706 – 5723) In short order, pirates, smugglers, thugs and bounty hunters came streaming to the conveniently-located Takioro. The scum of two whole quadrants converged on the station, scheming, socializing and screwing one another over. Considering Bad Space's newfound criminal prosperity, this made the Defederate Station in a veritable gold mine. For the next seventeen years, effective rulership over the station continued to change hands in a succession of bloody coups. One pirate captain would hold sway for a year, then a smuggling kingpin would usurp her for three, then that kingpin would be toppled by an intergalactic syndicate. No one person or party could hold the station for long, however, during this tumultuous period. It is believed that, during this era, one of the brief powers-that-be had the dysfunctional central spire replaced. In its place, a chunk of crumbling Danboowui was substituted as the three ring's anchor. The First Depot-Commissioner (5723 - 5778) Throughout this chaotic period, one business leader slowly began to rise to prominence among the station's bars and brothels. Nane Nane was a Bujese entrepreneur who owned a number of casinos on the station's Third Ring. Year by year, more and more of the station's merchant and bigwig population owed her substantial gambling debts, such that the Buja could wield powerful influence over them. It was this stepping stone, earning favors and bribes from Takioro's connected class that elevated Nane Nane to the station's highest office – the Depot-Commissioner. Before Nane's rise, the position of Depot-Commissioner was a pencil-pushing vortex, the person responsible for the "upkeep" and "maintenance" of the dilapidated station. Nane, however, used the position to blackmail and manipulate the station's elite into doing her bidding. For all her rampant corruption, however, Nane Nane served as a capable and competent Depot-Commissioner, putting in place many of the traditions and institutions that still continue in the station today. Some of Nane Nane's innovations: * The sharp gentrification between business – bars, brothels and restaurants on the Second Ring, shops and casinos on the Third Ring. * The "shoots" – massive cannons that carry elevators back and forth between the various rings. * The tagalongs – a system of street urchins that pilot decommissioned dash as a means of public transit For over five decades, Nane Nane ruled Takioro as her first Depot-Commissioner. Her fifty-five year reign ended when an unhappy customer, a fearsome Vollocki pirate captain named Velocity, gunned the Buja in what she claims was a "duel" but many on the station viewed as a straight murder. Seeing the office open, Velocity appointed herself Depot-Commissioner in 5778. Velocity's Reign (5778 – ?) ''Main Article: Velocity As Depot-Commissioner, Velocity maintained many of Nane Nane's policies and practices, attempting to keep the transition as smoothly as possible. Instead of favoring one office, like the Buja with her casinos, Velocity had controlling interests in a number of establishments, from tattoo and massage parlors to pawn and chopshops. She was generally considered to be a fair, if uninspired, Commissioner. She had the misfortune, however, of inheriting the station at a poor time. In the 5790s, Takioro Defederate Station began to fall out of fashion. As a number of wars sparked in the Midworlds, the surrounding moons and planets began to play host to shadowports of their own, drawing much of Velocity's business away.Unconstant Love, Chapter 23 List of businesses on Takioro Defederate Station Main Article: List of businesses on Takioro Defederate Station Appearances Takioro Defederate Station plays a major role throughout the Bad Space Trilogy. It is the only planetary location to appear in all three volumes. Early Careers (5771 – 5792) In 5771, Two-Bit Switch was born on Takioro Defederate Station. Raised as an orphan on the station's mean streets, he and his accomplices pulled a number of minor crimes throughout his youth, giving Two-Bit the training, experience and contacts he would require for his eventual career as a criminal mastermind.Unconstant Love, First Interlude In 5792, the burgeoning crew of The Unconstant Lover ''started spending time on Takioro, taking missions from Velocity and drinking at the Bloody Afterburn. After Abraham Bonaventure was captured during a caper on Nos Mantri, they hired Two-Bit Switch, then selling his services as a professional jailbreaker, to help spring him.''Hull Damage, Fifth Interlude Hull Damage (5793 – 5894) In 5793, the crew is ambushed by the bounty hunter Cogden Moore while awaiting a job offer from Huong Xo at the Astrobounce Gentlemen's Club.Hull Damage, Chapter 1 Afterwards, they're summoned to meet the Depot-Commissioner at Dujic's Holo-Ink Parlor and wind up at the Boiler, where they divy up their payment for the Kapla Caper and listen to Huong Xo's offer.Hull Damage, Chapter 2 In the search for more muscle, the crew hires an array of Takioro locals – Danbonte, Salo Shouldermount, Rooster, Heeko, Marco the Mange, Anchorage, Glive Garrigan, Garrock Brondi, Ebeneezer and Zella – from all across the Station's three Rings. They eventually have a celebratory debauch at the Bloody Afterburn where, once again, Moira Quicksilver gets shot in an unrelated quarrel. Two months later, the crew returns to the station, with Boss Ott's doxychoraphum in tow. Two-Bit Switch makes a tidy profit selling the explosive substance to Eidesmoe and makes a mental note to rob him at some point in the near future.Hull Damage, Chapter 8 Moira and Danbonte pay a visit to the Pistol-Whip, to surreptiously collect some bounties. Nemo meets again with Velocity at Dirty Fighting, where they discuss a job on Rith she'd like them to take, and Two-Bit Switch loses a fair amount of money on a Pixotto white mantis. Instead, Huong Xo offers them a better job and they, after a lengthy discussion in Docking Port #8887, they decide to spurn Velocity and zoom away to Lzura Minor on Xo's behalf. When next The Unconstant Lover ''visits Takioro, her pressure helix shorts out upon approach and, once Odisseus deactivates her engine, she needs to be towed into a Docking Port.''Hull Damage, Chapter 11 When the crew disembarks, Velocity confronts them about ignoring her Rith caper. At the Heaven Spot, Two-Bit, Abraham and Nemo plan the upcoming Haess Hustle while Moira visits the Barrel's Bottom and defeats a fledgling bounty hunter. Another two months pass before the crew returns to Takioro, seeking a scramble codifier to help them defeat the Pylon in orbit above Baz. Their entrance and activities are initially covered by the Yarba New Year celebrations. While Two-Bit steals the codifier from Eidesmoe and Moira checks their bounty postings, Nemo sneaks off the Lover ''to have a drink at the Afterburn, accompanied by Anchorage and Odisseus.''Hull Damage, Chapter 19 He's cornered by Gertie Guspatch in a back alley, who warns him about the three bounty hunters – Froz Four-Eyes, Komasa Vori and Thood – waiting to ambush him. The bounty hunters attack in short order and a massive brawl breaks out in the Bloody Afterburn. Fleeing the tavern, the pirates meet up with Two-Bit Switch while Anchorage stays behind, giving his life to buy Nemo time to escape.Hull Damage, Chapter 20 Chased across the station, the pirates eventually bump into Traasha and her goons and a second firefight ensues. Squatting behind an overturned Pickle Planet kiosk, the Lover's ''crew are rescued by Moira Quicksilver, who emerges to kill Thood and carve a path toward the shoot platform by commandeering a pair of dash. When they reach the shoot platform, they're ambushed by a third party – Gozzer and his Triomman goons – and must shoot their way to freedom before Traasha, Froz and Komasa can apprehend them. Five months later, the pirates return to Takioro Defederate Station, fleeing the fall of the house of Ott. Breaking bread with Velocity, they agree to her every term – paying Gozzer back, paying for damages to her station, taking the Rith caper.''Hull Damage, Chapter 27 Returning from that disastrous job, they share one last drink at the Bloody Afterburn and resolve never to work for a crime lord again. Galactic Menace ''(5794 – 5795) Ten months later, ''The Unconstant Lover ''and her crew would return to Takioro, during Nemo's planning phase of the Freebooter Fleet. Approaching Velocity about the possibility of Takioro playing host to the pirate fleet, they met with the Depot-Commissioner at Happy Endings. During this same visit, Two-Bit purchased some information from Threesies, they met with Tarson at the abandoned playground and paid Sifer to proliferate the Quuilar Noxix footage.''Galactic Menace, Chapter 8 A year later, the Freebooter Fleet returns triumphantly to Takioro Defederate Station, crowding the station like it was Yarba New Year. The Council of Captains throws a huge celebratory blow-out at the Bloody Afterburn, complete with speeches, brawling and even a performance by Cosmic Vomit.Galactic Menace, Chapter 24 Garrock Brondi appears at this party and challenges Nemo to attack another target, a more dangerous one – the Supreme Sovereignty of Trija.Galactic Menace, Chapter 25 A drunken Nemo then stumbles into the back alley and pukes on Moira's skirt. At Hamburger Teriyaki Milkshake, Nemo attempts to convince the other captains to join him on this harebrained scheme.Galactic Menace, Chapter 26 He eventually resorts to violence, shooting Captain Vobash in cold blood and appointing Gertie to take his place. During the attack on Trija, the pirates store The Unconstant Lover ''in Takioro's defunct Docking Port, #0100, and when everything goes sour, they return here to fetch it, Nemo making one small stop to give Threesies a discreet payout.''Galactic Menace, Chapter 30 ''Unconstant Love ''(5798 – 5799) Three years later, Nemo returns to Takioro, hoping to sell the Gitterpeach sapling he's just stolen from the Consortium to Velocity. The two old rivals meet in an abandoned Bloody Afterburn, Nemo demanding the entire Ring be emptied for this meeting. When negotiations don't go well, Velocity pulls a gun on Nemo but Nemo reveals that he's wearing a suicide vest full of doxychoraphum. Nemo flees and the two haven't spoken since. Two months later, Nemo returns to Takioro for the last time, to meet with Zoot. He sneaks into her dash repair shop and informs her where she can find Two-Bit's share of the Gitter heist – stashed in one of the honeycombs on the Third Ring. This is the last "public" appearance Captain Nemo makes for ten long years. References Category:Planet (T) Category:Space Station Category:Outer Ring